The Black Eyed Peas, the first contemporary pop act to headline the Super Bowl halftime since Janet Jackson was over-exposed by Justin Timberlake in 2004, proved to be an oddly appropriate choice for the National Football League's big international party Sunday in Dallas.

The Peas didn't exactly perform so much as cheerlead, their "Boom Boom Pow" just a centimeter or two removed from "sis-boom-bah." With lyrics like Madison Avenue slogans plastered over relentless beats, the quartet's big, proudly superficial music advertised and celebrated itself. It's not meant to be scrutinized, but blasted over big speakers at Cowboys Stadium or in saloons worldwide hosting Super Bowl parties.

It's nearly impossible to do anything nuanced or thoughtful on such a stage in 12 minutes. So the Peas went for the gusto and the spectacle, wearing neon spacesuits and surrounded by flourescent dancers. "Jump off that sofa!" chief Pea will.i.am commanded.

The vocal quartet's' fast-paced set included snippets of such readymade party anthems as "I've Got a Feeling,"  "Boom Boom Pow," the surf-guitar-stoked "Pump It," and "Let's Get it Started," plus wild cards Slash and Usher. With the Peas' Fergie doing her best Axl Rose impression, right down to a snaky hip dance, the guitarist with the curls, shades and stove pipe hat played his signature "Sweet Child O' Mine" riff. Fergie's voice sounded a little rough, but it did suggest that the band was at least attempting to perform their vocals live, not always the case in past Super Bowl halftimes. Usher, in pristine white,  delivered some smooth dance moves on "O.M.G." 

1.5 stars (out of 4)

    No contemporary pop group understands the power of cross-promotion, branding and product placement quite like the Black Eyed Peas, so it should come as no surprise that their latest single plays like a free ad for a 23-year-old song that most everyone already knows.

       Audacity more than inventiveness drives “The Time (Dirty Bit),” the song that introduces the Peas’ sixth album, “The Beginning” (Interscope).
       
        The single lifts its chorus from “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” the theme from the 1987 movie “Dirty Dancing.” It’s not the finest moment in the history of sampling. Rather, it’s reminiscent of the way MC Hammer copped Rick James’ “Super Freak” for the rapper’s 1990 hit “U Can’t Touch This” or Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs appropriated the Police’s “Every Breath You Take” for the 1997 smash “I’ll Be Missing You”: clumsy, obvious, crass. 

(Tribune photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo) View more photos of Black Eyed Peas at the United Center.

        Hello, Black Eyed Peas. Goodbye, brain.